Eligibility: Communities and counties that are members of these regional organizations.

Benefits: Technical assistance for housing planning and development.

Nature of Program: Assistance in the building of affordable and market-rate housing through local housing studies, planning and project development, facilitation of funding (including grant writing).

Application Process: Interested parties must apply through their city or county government.

The Development Districts have formed a formal organization Nebraska Regional Officials Council www.nrocne.com which is used to unite the development districts together to strengthen their outreach on a statewide level.

Eligibility: Any organization that has as part of its mission to develop housing that is affordable or any individual or organization that supports the development of affordable housing. Annual membership dues are $250.

Benefits: Form productive partnerships within our growing network. Develop professionally through training and leadership opportunities. Be part of an influential voice shaping the future of public policy. Have access to training and technical assistance aimed at increasing capacity to develop housing. Stay informed with e-alerts on funding and training opportunities and policy issues.

Nature of Program: The Nebraska Housing Developers Association is an alliance of organizations and individuals working to increase the availability of quality, affordable housing in Nebraska. The Association provides linkages among its members and various statewide initiatives to enhance the development of affordable housing. The Association has three strategic areas of focus – 1. Provide training and technical assistance to increase the impact of nonprofit developers and partners. 2. Build support for affordable housing through awareness and advocacy efforts. 3. Provide quality, affordable housing choices through various collaborative housing initiatives.

Benefits: REACH networks with interested experts in the fields of financing, housing and community development, insurance, and real estate to assure that quality, effective homebuyer education is available throughout Nebraska. REACH collects data that demonstrates the value of quality homebuyer education in an effort to increase the investment of local resources in the delivery of homebuyer education.

Nature of Program: To remove barriers to homeownership through a statewide education delivery system, enhancing the success of homebuyers in achieving and maintaining homeownership. REACH adopted uniform standards that are incorporated into curriculum used by REACH Affiliate Organizations in the delivery of quality homebuyer education. Through the delivery of ongoing homebuyer workshops potential homebuyers become better-educated consumers and prepare themselves to become homeowners. The Nebraska Housing Developers Association serves as the Lead Agency for REACH to coordinate training, obtain funding to support the coordination of REACH and the delivery of quality, homebuyer education and gather data that shows the impact of REACH. REACH has an Education Council that serves as the advisory body to the Lead Agency.

Housing counseling for home buyers, homeowners, and tenants under HUD programs.

Nature of Program: The Department is authorized to counsel home buyers, homeowners, and tenants under HUD programs. Services are provided by HUD-approved counseling agencies at no cost to individuals and families under HUD programs. HUD approves agencies and private and public organizations with competence, knowledge, and experience in housing counseling and Departmental programs. Housing counseling grants, when available, are awarded to HUD-approved counseling agencies, on a competitive basis, to reimburse them partially for costs.

Counseling consists of advising and assisting with budgeting, money management, and buying and maintaining a home. It includes referrals for financial assistance, food, medical care, family guidance, job training, and placement. Counseling services help homeowners and tenants to improve their housing conditions and meet their responsibilities.

Eligibility: These programs are designed to protect the health and safety of people living in these types of homes by regulating the manufacture of these homes through plan review and factory inspection. The manufactured homes are built to the Federal Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards. The modular housing units are built to the Uniform Building, Plumbing, and Mechanical codes; the National Electrical Code; and the Model Energy Code.

Benefits: These are factory-built homes requiring conformance to building codes much like site-built homes. Conformance is reviewed at the state level rather than at the local level to assure uniformity which assists in economizing the regulatory process. Should a home owner have a problem with their home, they may contact the Commission for assistance with obtaining repairs.

Nature of Program: The manufacturer applies to the Commission for plan review and factory inspection. Once the Commission is satisfied that the home is in compliance with the appropriate building codes, a seal is affixed to the home indicating compliance. For the manufactured homes, the seal is placed on the rear of each transportable section of the home. For modular housing units, a single seal is affixed to a living room window.

Eligibility: Nebraska families with children less than 6 years of age that have been identified to have blood lead levels greater than 20 ug/DL, or persistent levels of 15 ug/DL to 19 ug/DL.

Benefits: This program helps to identify lead areas in the home that could provide a source of exposure to small children. By having these areas identified, the homeowner can more effectively remedy the areas of highest risk and provide a safe environment for the children.

Nature of Program: Environmental specialists will provide lead hazard inspections to eligible families free of charge as long as the program has a cooperative with U.S. EPA, Region VII. Families in Lancaster and Douglas Counties should contact their local health department for these services.

Eligibility: People experiencing symptoms that commonly dissipate upon leaving the house, may have some indoor air quality issues that need to be resolved. Citizens of Nebraska have the right to advice and consultative services provided by the State of Nebraska, regarding Indoor Air Quality issues.

Benefits: The Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) Program provides all Nebraskans (Douglas and Lancaster County should contact their respective local Health Departments) with comprehensive information and recommendations or referrals, for a healthy living and working environment. The service provided by the IAQ Program has proved to be very effective in helping people with concerns and questions about the quality of the air within their home.

Nature of Program: The indoor air quality specialist will provide information, recommendations, and referrals to eligible families. If the problem requires an investigation or environmental testing, an environmental risk-analysis may be done on a per case basis.

Eligibility: The Department of Economic Development (DED) will award grants under the Planning Category to eligible local governments to carry out local and regional planning activities (strategic or special projects) meeting the national and state Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) objectives. These plans should lead to project financing through other categories in the CDBG Program or funding solutions through other federal/state/local/non-profit entities or a combination of various funding resources. In general, eligible planning activities include: studies; analyses; data gathering; identification of implementation actions; and preparation of plans. These planning projects include but are not limited to:

Community Development and Housing Plans. Ineligible activities include: engineering, architectural and design work related to a specific activity; implementation of the plan; operating costs for an organization; and the preparation of a CDBG application.

Objective: The state CDBG objective of the Planning Category is to provide communities the opportunity to solve problems and meet citizen needs through a community planning process that assesses community development needs, develops options for meeting those needs, and packages work plans or carries out processes that lead to successful projects.

Application Process: Applicants meeting threshold requirements are reviewed by DED on a competitive basis according to the Selection Criteria Matrix for the Planning Category. Applicants ranking highest in competitive order will be selected for funding, subject to the amount of funds available.

Applications recommended for approval through this process will be presented to DED's Director for consideration or recommendation to the Governor for grant award. The DED Director has the authority to ask for reconsideration or submit the Director's recommendation to the Governor. All actions will comply with the submission and selection criteria. The Governor may use executive authority to make grant awards to local governments provided all established criteria in this statement are met.

Eligibility: Manufactured homes are constructed as dwelling units of at least 400 square feet with a permanent chassis to assure initial and continued transportability of the home. All transportable sections of manufactured homes built in the U.S. after July 15, 1976 must contain a manufacturer's certification that the home section is built in accordance with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) construction and safety standards. The HUD standards are preemptive over any State or local standard for home construction provided that the HUD standards cover that aspect of performance of the home. The HUD standards cover Body and Frame Requirements, Thermal Protection, Plumbing, Electrical, Fire Safety and other aspects of the home. All standards are published in the Code of Federal Regulations at 24 CFR 3280.

Benefits: The Manufactured Housing Program assists in providing affordable single-family housing for low to moderate income Americans.

Nature of Program: A consumer protection program that regulates the constructions of factory built, manufactured homes. The HUD program oversees the enforcement of the construction standards through third party inspection agencies and State governments.

Manufactured Home Lot Appraisals: A manufactured home lot appraisal may be requested to estimate land value in determining the maximum loan proceeds allowable for a manufactured home lot loan or a combination loan (home and lot). A lot appraisal may also be requested to establish value for claim purposes on a foreclosed lot or manufactured home-and-lot combination.

How To Perform a Manufactured Home Lot Appraisal: In addition to the single-family residential appraisal techniques (see Chapter 4 of Placement & Selection of Your Manufactured Home Handbook), the appraiser must take the following steps when performing a manufactured home lot appraisal:

Obtain Form HUD-92802, Application and Request for Manufactured Home Lot and / or Site Preparation and the Federal Housing Authority case number from the mortgagee.

Appraiser must receive copy of the design engineer's inspection of the foundation from the mortgagee.

Appraiser must estimate the value of the lot by comparison with other lots offering similar amenities.

Appraiser must send the original and one copy of the appraisal report, a photograph of the lot and one photograph of each comparable to the lender for review at the completion of the appraisal.

To Purchase a Manufactured Home (Mobile Home) the Following Requirements Must Be Met:

The Mobile Home must be at least 400 square feet

The axles and wheels must be removable

The Mobile Home can only have been moved once (from the dealer to the borrower's land where taxes are paid to the county)

Eligibility: A public body or a public or private nonprofit corporation.

Benefits: Provides a mechanism to foster and encourage the development of new single family housing dwellings for low and very-low income families.

Nature of Program: A grant is provided to an eligible organization who will provide a program of technical and supervisory assistance for self-help housing. Through this assistance, a group of households (6010) are guided through actually constructing their own single family housing dwelling at a lower cost. The group of households utilize their own labor to reduce the total construction costs of their homes. Construction work is complete on homes by an exchange of labor with one another.